On Tuesday, May 22 at Van Asselt Elementary School, ten kids under 12 schooled seven Seattle Police Officers in the 2nd annual Detective “Cookie” Bouldin’s Urban Youth Chess Club “Kids vs. Cops” Chess Rumble Tournament. To be fair, several of the officers were new to the game or had very little experience, while some of their competitors had been playing for almost a third of their lives. Of course, that is because the kids started when they were four or five and now they are between six and eleven years old.Continue reading Kids v Cops: A Seattle Chess “Rumble”→

Dozens of families enjoyed a fun day of games and activities at the “Spring Into Summer” Community Carnival, on May 10th at the Rainier Beach Community Center. Although the event was free and open to the entire community, it was especially dedicated to the children of incarcerated parents. Continue reading Photo Essay: “Spring Into Summer” Community Carnival→

The killing of ten people and injuring of thirteen more in Santa Fe, Texas on May 18 marks another terrible and terrifying moment in this country’s ongoing struggle with gun violence. This most recent incident represents the 101st mass shooting to occur in the United States in 2018, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). So far this year, the United States is averaging 1 mass shooting every 1.35 days. At that rate, we will see 270 mass shootings before the end of 2018. As shocking as that number is, though, it would be the lowest number of incidents per year since 2014, the first year GVA began archiving records.Continue reading Over 100 Mass Shootings→

Thousands of Seattle residents live in their vehicles, leading a fragile, dangerous existence on the margins

by Will Sweger

In the concrete wasteland of Seattle’s Sodo industrial district, the only hint of the native Pacific Northwest is in the jungle of trees climbing Beacon Hill to the east and the blue skies hemmed in by clouds above.Continue reading When Home is a Parking Spot→

As we have been working to build a future where Hillman City’s Black & Tan Hall serves as a thriving neighborhood restaurant, music venue, and community cultural space, a group of partner-owners at the Hall have also been exploring Seattle’s past and the history of the Black and Tan Club. Along the way, we have made some surprising discoveries about the founders of that famous venue and the role it has played in the history of our city.Continue reading The Story of Seattle’s Black and Tan Club and Those Who Owned It→